Large rubbish fire probed
Manawatu¯ ’s only clean fill site is closed and its owner issued with an abatement notice as officials investigate whether toxic waste has been dumped there.
It comes after a large rubbish fire broke out at LA Landscapes, near Feilding, prompting public health officials to advise eight neighbouring properties to disconnect rainwater tank supplies and close their windows to prevent smoke entering their homes.
The fire’s smoke and smell was noticeable in the town leading up to Christmas.
Horizons Regional Council suspects the business violated resource consent on December 20, when officials were called to the blaze and found demolition material and other prohibited items such as painted wood, plastics and electrical wiring.
Paddy Toyne opened the site on Halcombe Rd six years ago as a space where residents and contractors could dump green waste and combustible material. He had a resource consent to burn the rubbish every three months.
Toyne said he had separated toxic material from the burning pile, which was later removed from the site under an agreement he had with Central Demolition.
Meanwhile, contractors have had to travel vast distances to dump material while the Feilding site is closed.
Toyne said he typically waited for a north easterly wind forecast to last two days, which would blow smoke away from homes and across vacant farmland. He woke on December 20 to a strong north easterly, but it began to swirl three hours after the material was ignited. Smoke spilled over the Feilding suburb of Mt Taylor, prompting a complaint to Horizons’ pollution hotline, as flames from native timber reached their peak.
Toyne said he worked with officials to fight the blaze, financing 500,000 litres of water to be transported and poured on the flames.
‘‘You could have had a snorkel out there.
‘‘I had to get rid of the pile before the [potential summer] fire ban.
‘‘This is the only [clean fill] in Manawatu¯ and the contractors are seriously p ..... off.’’
If found in breach of the abatement notice, Toyne faces a maximum penalty of two years’ jail or a $600,000 fine.